About file formats for imported video

If you have QuickTime 4 or later (Windows or Macintosh) or DirectX 7 or later (Windows only) installed on your system, you can import embedded video clips in a variety of file formats, including MOV (QuickTime movie), AVI (Audio Video Interleaved file), and MPG/MPEG (Motion Picture Experts Group file). You can import linked video clips in MOV format.

Flash documents with embedded video can be published as SWF files. Flash documents with linked video must be published in QuickTime format.

The following video file formats are supported for importing embedded video if QuickTime 4 is installed (Windows and Macintosh):

The following video file formats are supported for importing embedded video if DirectX 7 or later is installed (Windows only):

By default, Flash imports and exports video using the Sorenson Spark codec. A codec is a compression/decompression algorithm that controls how multimedia files are compressed and decompressed during import and export. For information on the Sorenson Spark codec, see About the Sorenson Spark codec.

If you attempt to import a file format that is not supported on your system, Flash displays a warning message indicating that the operation cannot be completed. In some cases, Flash may be able to import the video but not the audio in a file. For example, audio is not supported in MPG/MPEG files imported with QuickTime 4. In such cases, Flash displays a warning indicating that the audio portion of the file cannot be imported. You can still import the video without sound.

Note: Imported audio is published or exported as streamed audio, using the global audio streaming settings selected in the Publish Settings dialog box. See Setting publish options for the Flash SWF file format.